{"id":17088,"date":"2016-05-04T10:14:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T14:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=17088"},"modified":"2016-05-04T10:14:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T14:14:43","slug":"captain-america-civil-war-reflects-americas-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/captain-america-civil-war-reflects-americas-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"How &#8216;Captain America: Civil War&#8217; Reflects America&#8217;s Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17089 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/05\/CAptain-America.jpg\" alt=\"CAptain America\" width=\"375\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/05\/CAptain-America.jpg 375w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/05\/CAptain-America-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/05\/CAptain-America-299x199.jpg 299w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/>It\u2019s almost impossible to avoid all the hype about the upcoming Marvel Comics-inspired film \u2013 <em>Captain America: Civil War<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Hollywood is banking on the legions of loyal \u2013 some might say crazy \u2013 fans who dress up as their favorite character, attend conventions, flock to YouTube with speculation about comic-inspired movie storylines and buy lots of expensive merchandise. These fans extend to other comic-book inspired movies and the comics themselves.<\/p>\n<p>These fans aren\u2019t passionate simply because it\u2019s a fad or a \u201cyouth\u201d thing. It\u2019s because these comics and the movies they inspire are a window into America\u2019s soul, said University of Central Florida history professor <a href=\"http:\/\/history.cah.ucf.edu\/staff.php?id=284\">Richard Crepeau, Ph.D<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese heroes are outside the constraints of social institutions and the rule of law, which is at the center of our social order,\u201d Crepeau said. \u201cIn the real world, they might be seen as a threat to a democratic society, but in the world of fantasy they are seen as a means to swift and sure justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the case in the latest movie, which will be released May 6. The Captain America movie begins with an Avengers (superhero group) operation that goes awry, causing civilian casualties. The botched mission leads to the United Nations passing the fictional Sokovia Accords, aiming to rein in superhero collateral damage by placing them under governmental supervision.<\/p>\n<p>UCF political science professor <a href=\"https:\/\/politicalscience.cos.ucf.edu\/people\/jewett-aubrey\/\">Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D.<\/a>, said the movie explores questions that are at the root of American democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the themes is security versus liberty, and finding the right balance between them. In <em>Captain America: Civil War<\/em>, the superheroes split up into two camps and fight over an issue that we have been trying to find the right compromise for since the founding of the country: Who watches the watchers? How can we make sure people in power are doing the right thing? If they do something wrong, how do we handle that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The movie also features prominent African American and female heroes in the form of Black Panther, Falcon and Black Widow. According to Jewett, that reflects American society\u2019s changing image of itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs our society is becoming more diverse, our vision of who can be a superhero has become more diverse as well. Movies like this can help bring down barriers or get people to think about issues in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UCF film analysis teacher and former <em>Orlando Sentinel <\/em>movie critic Jay Boyar, who worked at Marvel in the late 1970s, agrees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeeing someone who looks like you and has some of the same issues you have can be very powerful and can raise people\u2019s comfort level with more diversity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Several characters go through traumas, both physical and emotional, that humanize them and make them relatable to the audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example, Iron Man has a bad heart,\u201d Boyar said. \u201cIn the comic books, Spider-Man is always called neurotic and angst-ridden. He was tormented psychologically. Marvel seems to look to include people with disabilities \u2013 there\u2019s a message there that they can overcome \u2013 that there\u2019s no reason why they can\u2019t be heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comics and movies may draw in fans for even more deep-seated reasons, according to anthropology assistant professor <a href=\"https:\/\/anthropology.cos.ucf.edu\/people\/reyes-foster-beatriz\/\">Beatriz Reyes-Foster, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaptain America, especially, really speaks to that yearning for a pure hero,\u201d Reyes-Foster said. \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s reflective of the Abrahamic traditions \u2013 Judeo-Christianity \u2013 that have greatly influenced our worldview. I think that Western culture really wants to believe that there are things that are clearly right and clearly wrong because it\u2019s comfortable to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For others, the comics and movies offer an opportunity to connect generations. Jewett, who has been collecting comics since he was a kid, introduced his children to the Marvel world and will be taking his family to watch the newest movie on opening night.<\/p>\n<p>UCF finance student John Kann can\u2019t wait to see the action and some of his favorite characters again. Like Jewett, the comics and books connect him to his family. He said he\u2019ll watch the movie with his older brother and enjoy the amazing visual effects and witty dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy older brother was a huge fan, so when I was really young, he would tell me about all the epic twists that were going on in the Marvel universe,\u201d Kann said. \u201cWe were both into <em>Star Wars<\/em> and other epic fantasy series, so superheroes fit right in. Ever since then, reading comics and watching the movies has just always been a part of my life. Marvel does a great job of keeping things fresh. It\u2019s just so cool seeing that world progress and take on new stories that change the characters and our perspective on them. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>View original story <a href=\"http:\/\/today.ucf.edu\/how-captain-america-civil-war-reflects-americas-soul\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s almost impossible to avoid all the hype about the upcoming Marvel Comics-inspired film \u2013 Captain America: Civil War. Hollywood is banking on the legions of loyal \u2013 some might say crazy \u2013 fans who dress up as their favorite character, attend conventions, flock to YouTube with speculation about comic-inspired movie storylines and buy lots [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":17089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,38,4,39,13,16,25,29],"tags":[282,361,399,545,736,924,1748,1818,2195,2717,2874,3457,3473,3475,3516,3555,3592,3613,3616,3723],"class_list":["post-17088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","category-breaking-news","category-departments","category-faculty-news","category-news","category-political-science-departments","category-staff-news","category-ucf-news","tag-anthropology","tag-aubrey-jewett","tag-beatriz-reyes-foster","tag-captain-america-civil-war","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-department-of-political-science","tag-jay-boyar","tag-john-kann","tag-marvel-comics","tag-political-sciences","tag-richard-crepeau","tag-ucf","tag-ucf-anthropology","tag-ucf-anthropology-department","tag-ucf-college-of-sciences","tag-ucf-finance","tag-ucf-news-2","tag-ucf-political-science","tag-ucf-political-science-department","tag-university-of-central-florida"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How &#039;Captain America: Civil War&#039; Reflects America&#039;s Soul - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/captain-america-civil-war-reflects-americas-soul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How &#039;Captain America: Civil War&#039; Reflects America&#039;s Soul - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s almost impossible to avoid all the hype about the upcoming Marvel Comics-inspired film \u2013 Captain America: Civil War. 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